Author of the article: Nicole Wong • Local Journalism Initiative reporter
Publishing date: Dec 17, 2020 • December 17, 2020 • 2 minute read • (Left to right): Ernest Merasty (Chepil Project Leader), Marcel ‘Moody’ Colomb (Youth Participant), Sarah Copapay (MCFN Employee Training Manager), Michael Raess (Alamos Gold Manager, Environment and Community Relations), Don McCollum (MCFN Councillor), Gordon Halkett (Cabin Contractor), Douglas Hart (MCFN Housing Manager), Cory Hart (MCFN Councillor) and Eagle Colomb (Youth Participant). Supplied photo.
Article content
Alamos Gold Inc. and Marcel Colomb First Nation (MCFN) are partnering together on a series of projects to facilitate traditional hands-on knowledge and skills training among Indigenous youth.
The Youth Development Project has received $30,000 through the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund (MMDF) while the Alamos Gold Inc. and MCFN has provided $60,000 and $15,000 in funding, respectively.
The hands-on land-based training will begin immediately, supervised by elders and subject experts, who will take a holistic approach incorporating traditional practices and ceremonies as participants learn to construct a cabin and build a new trail to provide access to Chepil Lake on the north side of the Black Sturgeon Reserve. “With Alamos Gold’s proposal to build the Lynn Lake gold project in our traditional territory, our collaboration is vital,” Chief Chris Colomb of MFCN, which has about 450 members. “This program provides our youth with the opportunity to gain hands-on skills and knowledge in a way that lends well to future employment with the project. It is also an opportunity for elders, knowledge keepers and mentors from the community to guide youth through the project.”
WINNIPEG A Canadian-based gold producer and a northern Manitoban First Nation are collaborating to provide Indigenous youth with employment opportunities while honouring traditional ceremonies and practices. Alamos Gold Inc. and Marcel Colomb First Nation (MCFN) announced Wednesday they are launching a youth development project, funded in part by a $30,000 Manitoba Mineral Development Fund. The project will support two local Indigenous youth to work full-time with guidance from local elders and experts. The youth will learn to build a new trail and construct a cabin that others can also access near Chepil Lake on the north side of the Black Sturgeon Reserve, said Rebecca Thompson, vice president of public affairs at Alamos Gold.